Thursday, September 29, 2011

The great magnet adventure

My sweet boy Nathan Cole has had a rough go of it these past few weeks. Here is the timeline of what when down at our house:

September 11th- Nathan was playing with two heavy duty magnets on our fridge. We turn our backs for a second and Nathan comes running up to us holding one magnet and grabbing his belly. He says "My throat hurts" and then "My belly hurts". We asked him if he swallowed the magnet and he says "Yes". Off we go to the local ER. They do an X-ray and say that the magnet is in his stomach and it should pass in a few days.

September 16th, 1:00am- Brandon hears Nathan vomiting his bed. Brandon comes to get me and we agree that we should probably take him back to the ER because we are worried that the magnet still hasn't passed and now we are freaking out thinking that the magnet is causing the vomiting. Brandon takes him to the local ER while I stay home with the twins.

September 16th, 3:00am- Brandon calls me and says that the new X-ray shows that the magnet has not moved from his stomach. The ER doctor is concerned that it hasn't moved in 5 days and suggests that we transfer Nathan to the children's hospital for further evaluation.

September 16th, 5:00am-After waking my mom up and having her drive over to sit with the twins, I am able to join Brandon with Nathan at the local hospital. We are transferred to the children's hospital. We are admitted. All of us are exhausted.

September 16th, 8:00am-Another X-ray shows that the magnet is still in the stomach. We meet with the pediatric GI doctor and his team of residents. They show us the X-rays and they tell us that Nathan needs to have endoscopic surgery to remove the magnet. Brandon and I freak out, but agree that the magnet needs to come out.

September 16th, 11:00am- We are taken down to surgery waiting where they give Nathan some Versed to calm him down (they do this for everyone). Nathan is adorable and saying things like "Look at this truck...it has four wheels. Wheeeeeeeeeeeels!" Nathan drifts off to sleep and I lay him down on the gurney so that they can take him to surgery.

September 16th, 12:30pm- Two exhausted, terrified parents wait anxiously in the waiting room as it takes twice as much time as what they said.

September 16th, 1:00pm- The GI doctor comes out to tell us that he could not find the magnet. But he did find some white tissue on the side of his small intestines that he took a biopsy of. He orders another X-ray to see where the magnet is now.

September 16th, 2:00pm- We finally get to see our baby boy in the recovery room. He is sleeping and I am crying looking at him all hooked up to monitors and IVs.

September 16th, 3:00pm- Secondary X-ray shows that the magnet finally moved! The GI doctor thinks that the anesthesia relaxed the smooth muscle of his stomach and allowed the magnet to pass through. He seems confident that the magnet will pass on its own. We are told to watch his poop to find the magnet (the joys of being a parent). We are discharged and head home with our sweet boy.

September 21st- Magnet is OUT!! We jump around like idiots and are thrilled!

September 23rd- The GI doctor calls to ask about Nathan's status. I should have known something was up when I heard his voice. Doctors just don't make those follow-up phone calls. Anyway, he tells us that the white tissue biopsy came back and it turns out Nathan has ulcers. He wants Nathan to have bloodwork to measure his Gastrin (hormone that controls the production of stomach acid) level and for him to start Prilosec. He also wants him to have another endoscopy at the end of December to be sure that the ulcers are resolved. This is all well and good except Brandon and I immediately panic. We are so terrified that Nathan has Crohn's disease. My mother-in-law has it and we are just scared to death. So now, I get to worry frantically for the next three months.